Container filling process and apparatus



Dec. 17, 1957 A. BROCKMANN 2,816,407

CONTAINER FILLING PROCESS AND 'APPARATUS Filed June 25, 1956 'fll'l'l/A1 fa 4 a 6 2,816,407 Patented Dec. 17, 1957 CONTAINER FILLING PROCESSAND APPARATUS Alfons Brockmann, Sythen uber Haltern, Germany, assignorto Schfer-Flottmann & Co. G. m. b. H., Silschede uber Gevelsberg,Westphalia, Germany Application .lune 25, 1956, Serial No. 593,482

Claims priority, application Germany, June 23, 1955 lil Claims. (Cl.53-37) The present invention relates to a filling process and apparatus.

More particularly, the present invention relates to a filling processand apparatus wherein an elongated tubular container made of paper orthe like is lled with an explosive material in pasty form so as toprovide a cartridge.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a llingprocess and apparatus of the above type capable of reliably andaccurately filling a container with a precise amount of material.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a process andapparatus capable of filling containers of a length greater thanconventional lengths in an eliicient manner.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an apparatuscapable of accomplishing the above objects and composed of simple andruggedly constructed elements which carry out simple motions and whichare very reliable in operation.

lt is also an object of the present invention to provide an apparatuswhose components may be easily exchanged for other components ofdifferent sizes to enable the apparatus to ill containers of differentsizes.

With the above objects in view the present invention mainly consists ofa filling apparatus which includes a housing means having an elongatedtubular outlet and a feed screw in the housing means for feedingmaterial out through the tubular outlet thereof. A support meanssupports an elongated hollow container in a position aligned with thetubular outlet to receive material therefrom, and the support means andhousing means are both movable back and forth in directions which areperpendicular to each other.

Also with the above objects in view, the present invention mainlyconsists of a process for filling an elongated tubular container havinga closed end and an open end, this process including the steps offilling the container from its closed end to its open end and thencutting oif the material in the container at the open end thereof alonga plane which is inclined to the axis of the container and which makesan acute angle with this ax1s.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for theinvention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. Theinvention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method ofoperation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, willbe best understood from the following description of speciticembodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

Figs. 1e5 show the structure of the invention in a sectional sideelevational view respectively in the positions which this structuretakes at different stages of the process according to the presentinvention; and

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view showing the details of a supportmeans for supporting a container which is filled according to thepresent invention.

. during part of the filling process.

Referring now to the drawings, the structure of the invention includes ahousing means 2 having a hopper 1 communicating with the interiorthereof and supporting a plurality of feed screws for respectiverotation about their axes, these feed screws being driven in anysuitable way. The housing means includes a plurality of tubular outletmembers 4 located beside each other and respectively cooperating withthe feed screws for receiving material therefrom. Only one tubularoutlet member 4 and feed screw 3 is shown in the drawing for the sake ofsimplicity.

The containers which are to be lled are in the form of elongated tubularmembers 5 made of paper or the like and having a left closed end and aright open end, as viewed in the drawings. At the start of the processof the invention the containers 5 are respectively located on thetubular outlet members 4 with the latter extending through their entirelength into the conainers 5, respecively, as is indicated in Fig. 1.

In accordance with the present invention lthe housing means 2 is movableback and forth in a horizontal direction, and for this purpose thehousing means 2 is formed with a plurality of elongated bores throughwhich a plurality of guide rails or rods 6 respectively extend slidably,as indicated in Fig. 1, so that the housing means 2 may be moved backand forth to the right and left with any suitable mechanism on the rails6.

A folding member 7 is located over each tubular outlet member 4 adjacentits discharge end, and this folding member 7 is pivotally carried by theangle member shown in Fig. 1 for rotation about an axis perpendicu-l larto and located over the axis of the tubular discharge member 4, theangle member which carries the pivotal folding member 7 being itselfmovable up and down as indicated by the arrows of the top of Fig. 1. Thefolding member 7 is turnable in opposite directions about its turningaxis.

The containers 5 are each supported during the filling process by asupport means 8 the details of which are shown most clearly in Fig. 6.Each support means 8 includes a pair of elongated blocks 10 and 11located beside each other in the manner shown in Fig. 6, and the upperinner edges of the blocks 10 and 11 which are located next to anddirected toward each other are concave, as shown at 12 and 13 in Fig. 6so as to cooperate together to form a groove for supporting a container5 At their inner side faces which are directed toward each other, theblocks 10 and 11 are respectively formed with longitudinal grooves 14and 15 which cooperate together to form an elongated cavity in which acontainer 5 is located during part of the filling process. The supportmeans 8 is movable up and down as indicated by the arrow shown in Figs.2-5, and as is also shown by the vertical arrows of Fig. 6, and inaddition the blocks 10 and 11 of each support means ti are movablehorizontally toward and away from each other, as is also indicated bythe arrows shown rod 16 which is axially aligned with the discharge tube4 carries an electrical contact member 19 which engages an electricalcontact member 20 which is stationary when the container 5 has beenfilled, as will be pointed out below, and when contact members 19 and 20engage each other they close a circuit which actuates a member whichstops the rotation of the feed screw 3 so that in this way the feedingof the material into the container 5 is terminated automatically whenthe container 5 is filled. A stop bar 21 which is xedly mounted by anysuitable support structure cooperates with the supports for thecouanregen? tacts-19 to'limit the movement of the teeler rods 16 -to theright, as viewed in Fig. 1.

The above described structure operates as follows:

The empty containers whichare closed at their left ends and open attheir right ends, as viewedin Fig. l, arev placed on the'tubulardischarge members 4,' in the position shown in Fig. 1 where the members4 are respectively located completely within the containers 5. Thesecontainers 5 are supported in this position by the support means 8. Eachsupport means S has a container 5 located in the groove formed'by'theelongated cutouts 12 and 13 of` the blocks 10 and 1li-of eachsupp'ortmeans 8. Asis apparent from Fig. 1, atthe start of the process thefeeler rod 16 engages the closed end of thecontainer 5 to urge thelatterto the right, as' viewed in Fig.' 1 with a predetedmined force dependingupon the Vspring i8 which may be adjusted vto `exert`thedesired force'on. the container 5.

The rotating feedfscrew 3 now feeds the pas'ty'exp'losive material'or'the like from the hopper 1 through the tubular discharge member 4intothe 'container 5. The force of the spring 18. is such 'that thecontainer 5 cannot move to'the'left,' as viewedin Fig. l, until' thematerial .moving into'the'container 5 from the' member 4'engages'the'left closedlend' of .the container 5. The force of thespring 1S issuici'enttoprevent'the"container 5y from moving to the leftwhile there are still air pocketsin the container 5, and with thisarrangement the container 5 is reliably `filled throughout'its interior,Aso that a precise iilling of the containers 5 is assured inthisway.

Assoonas the material moving into the container 5 completely illsthespace located within the latter to the leftof 'th`e"dischar`ge`member 4, as viewed in Fig. 1, the material which' 'continues 'to moveinto the container 5 starts'to shpi'fttheV latter to the left, as viewedin Fig. 1, and the .feeler rod 16 also moves to the left against theforce of the"spr`ing 18. The cutouts 12 and I3 of the blocks l'and 11 ofthe support means 8 support and guide the container 5 during its`movement to the left in this manner.

When the container 5 has moved to the left through a distance sucient tolocate its right end in alignment withthe upper part of the inclinedopen end of the tube 4, the switch contact member 19 engages the switchcontact member 20 to stop the rotation of the feedscrew 3, and thus theleftward movement of the container 5 also stops. The container 5 is nowin the position shown in Fig.l 2' with respect to the discharge member4. It will be noted that the discharge member 4 has a left. open endlocated in a plane which is inclined upwardly to the right, as viewedyin Fig. 2, and this plane passes through the upper portion of the openend of the container 5 in the position of the parts shown in Fig. 2.Thus, in this position of the parts. only theportion ofthe dischargemember tlocated to the left of the uppermost part ofthe left-,endtofthedischarge member 4 is still located within the container 5.

With the parts in this position the container 5 is supported by thepart'of the discharge member d which still extends into the container 5and by the feeler rod 16 bearingagainsttheleitend of the container 5.With the container 5-supported in this way the blocus it? and M of yeachsupport-meansare moved away from each other. and then these blocks aremoved upwardly in unison until their grooves 14 and A15are located atthe elevation ot the container 5. Thenthe blocks il@ and 11 are movedtoward each other so that the container 5 is gripped in the'grooves 14';and .15 between the blocks i@ and 1l, and this is theposition of theparts shown in Fig. Z.

"With the parts-rin. this-position shownin Fig. 2 .the housingmeans 2islrnovedftolthe rightand at the same time the blocks 11i) 'andi-1iofllthesupportmeans 8 .together with `the 'container 5- 'gripped therebyare. moved downwardly. #Thecoordinated rightward movement' of thehousing means 2 and downward movement of thesupport means 3 producesbetween the housing means 2 and the support means 8 a relative movementlocated in the same plane in which the discharge end of the tubularmember 4 is located, so that as a result of the simultaneous movement ofthe housing means 2 and support means 8 in the manner described the endof the discharge member #i moves upwardly to the right out of thecontainer member 5 and cuts oit the material therein along the plane`9shown in Fig. 3, and as is evident from Fig, 3 this plane is in tact thesame plane as the plane in which the discharge end of the tubular member4 is located.

The housing means 2 continues to move to the right to the positionindicated in Fig. 4 and the support means S continues to move togetherwith the container 5 downwardly to the position shown in Fig. 4. Duringthe downward movement of the support means 8 and container 5, thefolding member 7 together with its support also moves downwardly but ata faster rate than the support means i5, so that the folding member 7overtakes the container 5 and engages the latter to straighten the rightend 9 of the material in container 5 and place the right end of thematerial in a vertical plane normal to the axis ofthe container 5.Simultaneously, the folding member 7 folds in the upper portion of theright end of the container 5 against the material therein, and thenunillustrated additional folding members which are capable of movingback and forth engage the right free end of the container 5 to finishthe folding thereof. When this folding is nished theblocks lil and 11 ofeach support means are moved away from each other so that `thecompletely filled and closed container 5 falls from each supportmaterial.

means 8 onto a suitable guide whichcauses the now 'complete cartridgesto move to a place where an operator can pick them up and pack theminsuitable boxes or the like. Fig. 5 shows the position to whichk thefolding member 7 has been turned in order to engage the material'in thecontainer 5 to straighten the same and in order to fold the material ofthe container 5 inwardly against the right end of the material therein.

After the process is completed in this manner, the parts are returned tothe position of Fig. 1 and new containers 5 are placed on'the members 4,respectively, with the feeler rods 16 respectively pressing against thecontainers 5, and then the above described process is repeated.

With the above described process and apparatus the containers 5 areprecisely iilled with a desired weight of Furthermore, it will be notedthat the separation of the material from the free end of the dischargemember 4 is very precisely carried out. Furthermore, with the processand apparatus of. the present invention it is possible to ll much longercontainers than has heretofore been possible. Tests have shown that withthe process and apparatus of the present invention it is possible toautomatically iill in a perfect mannercontainers having a length ofapproximately 300 mm. With the process and lapparatus of the presentinvention there are no plungers which slide in cylinders to eject thematerial which is being filled, and as result there is no undesirablefriction and therefore no danger when handling explosive material. Theonly rotating part of the entire structure is the feed screw, so thatthe construction is quite simple and reliable in operation. Furthermore,it is possible to exchange very easily a group of discharge tubes 4 andsupport means 8 for another group to accommodate containers of adiierent size.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, ortwo-or more together, may also find a useful application in other typesof iilling'process and'apparatus differing from the types describedabove.

While theinvention has been illustrated and described as embodied invapparatus and process for iilling `explosives into containers,` it is.notintended to berlirnitedto thedetails shown, sincezyarious.modifications :and: structural changes may be made without departing inany way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist ofthe present invention that others can by applying Vcurrent knowledgereadily adapt it for various applications without omitting featuresthat, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essentialcharacteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this inventionand, therefore, such adaptations -should and are intended to becomprehended Within the meaning and range of equivalence of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. In a filling apparatus, in combination, housing means having anelongated tubular outlet; a worm screw in housing means for feeding amaterial out of the same through said tubular outlet thereof; supportmeans for `supporting a container in alignment with said tubular outletof said housing means to receive material discharged from said housingmeans through said tubular outlet thereof, one of said means beingmovable back and forth in one `direction and the other of said meansbeing movable back and forth in a direction perpendicular to said onedirection.

2. In a filling apparatus, in combination, housing means having anelongated tubular outlet and being movable back and forth in ahorizontal direction; a worm screw in said housing means for feeding amaterial therein out through said tubular outlet thereof; and supportmeans for supporting an elongated hollow container in alignment withsaid tubular outlet to receive a material therefrom, said support meansbeing movable up and down.

3. In a filling apparatus, in combination, housing means having anelongated tubular outlet and being movable back and forth in ahorizontal direction; a worm screw in said housing means for feeding amaterial therein out through said tubular outlet thereof; support meansfor supporting an elongated hollow container in alignment with saidtubular outlet to receive a material therefrom, said support means beingmovable up and down; and a folding member turnable about a predeterminedaXis in opposite directions and also being movable up and down.

4. In a filling apparatus, in combination, housing means having anelongated tubular outlet and being movable back and forth in ahorizontal direction; a worm screw in said housing means for feeding amaterial therein out through said tubular outlet thereof; support meansfor -supporting an elongated hollow container in alignment with saidtubular outlet to receive a material therefrom, said support means beingmovable up and down; and guide rail means supporting said housing meansfor said movement back and forth in a horizontal direction.

5. In a filling apparatus, in combination, housing means having anelongated tubular outlet and being movable back and forth in ahorizontal direction; a worm screw in said housing means for feeding amaterial therein out through said tubular outlet thereof; support meansfor supporting an elongated hollow container in alignment with saidtubular outlet to receive a material therefrom, said support means beingmovable up and down; a folding member turnable about a predeterminedaxis in opposite directions and also being movable up and down; andguide rail means supporting said housing means for said movement backand forth in a horizontal direction.

6. In a filling apparatus, in combination, housing means having anelongated tubular outlet; a worm screw in said housing means for feedinga material out of the same through said tubular outlet thereof; supportmeans for supporting a container in alignment with said tubular outletof said housing means to receive material discharged from said housingmeans through said tubular outlet thereof, one of said means beingmovable back and forth in one direction and the other of said meansbeing movable back and forth in a direction perpendicular to said onedirection, said support means including a pair of elongated memberslocated beside each other, having at their top faces elongated concaveedges located adjacent and directed toward each other and cooperatingtogether to define an upwardly directed groove, said members having sidefaces directed toward each other and respectively formed with a pair ofaligned grooves directed toward each other and cooperating together toform a cavity.

7. In a filling apparatus, in combination, housing means having anelongated tubular outlet; a feed screw in said housing means for feedingmaterial therefrom through said tubular -outle-t thereof; support meansfor supporting a tubular container in alignment with said tubular outletto receive a material therefrom; and means for providing between saidhousing means and support means a relative movement in a plane inclinedto and making an acute angle with the axis of said tubular outlet ofsaid housing means.

8. In a lling apparatus, in combination, a housing having an elongatedtubular outlet member provided with an outer discharge end located in aplane inclined to and making an `acute angle with the axis of saidtubular outlet member; a feed screw in said housing means for feedingmaterial out of the same through said tubular outlet member thereof;support means for supporting an elongated tubular container in aposition aligned with said tubular outlet member for receiving materialtherefrom; and means for providing between said support means andhousing means a relative movement in said plane.

9. In a process for filling an elongated hollow container having oneclosed end and one open end with a pasty material, the steps of fillingthe elongated container with the pasty material from said closed endthereof up to said open end thereof; cutting off the pasty material insaid container at said open end thereof along a plane inclined to andmaking an acute angle with the axis of the container; and then foldingthe open end of the container in order to close said open end.

10. In a process for filling an elongated hollow container having oneclosed end and one open end with a pasty material, the steps of fillingthe elongated container with the pasty material from said closed endthereof up to said open end thereof; cutting off the pasty material insaid container at said open end thereof along a plane inclined to andmaking an acute angle with the axis of the container; and then foldingthe open end of the container in order to close said open end andsimultaneously changing the inclined plane of the pasty material to aplane which is normal to the axis of the container.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,563,278 Rummel et al. Aug. 7, 1951

